Scripture
Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.
~Psalm 41:9, NKJV
Quote
The person who is patting you on the back may be looking for a place to put the knife.
~Source Unknown
King David was betrayed by a close friend. Most folks think it was Ahithophel (brother of foolishness), a native of Giloh, and counselor to the king. David trusted Ahithophel with the intimate details of his life. He highly esteemed Ahithophel’s wisdom and advice. Ahithophel was also the grandfather of Bathsheba. Ahithophel joined the conspiracy of Absalom against David, and persuaded him to take possession of the royal harem. He also recommended an immediate pursuit of David. His advice was wise; but Absalom did not take it, he listened to the advice of someone else. When Ahithophel saw that his advice had been ignored, he despaired of life, and returning to his own home put his household in order and hanged himself. David’s friendship with Ahithophel had a long history and there was nothing David had no shared with his trusted friend, not even his bread. Ahithopel had ate at David’s table on many occasions; he was like a member of the family. When he joined Absalom’s rebellion, David was crushed by the betrayal. Most of us know how it feels to be betrayed by someone we loved and trusted. We must keep loving them but there is no way we can trust them.
This story has three significant meanings:
- It has a historical meaning: It speaks of the treachery of Ahithophel against David.
- It has a prophetic meaning: Judas Iscariot would do the same thing to Jesus that Ahithophel did to David. He ate Jesus bread, sopped from the same dish and then went straight to the Jews and betrayed Jesus.
- It has a spiritual meaning. All of us eat God’s bread and when we sin, we betray His trust. We are all Ahithophel’s, we have all betrayed Him. Sometimes our silence is betrayal.
- I am very thankful that the MBA Annual Meeting is history. We have had a couple of long days in a row and I was thrilled to get home last night, get a shower and get in the recliner. I do want to thank a host of folks who helped us. Bro. John Tucker did an outstanding job leading the praise and worship. I want to thank him and Joye for singing. I thank Linda for playing and Catfish and Zach running the sound and video. I want to thank Holly and her team for serving and all the ladies who helped us with the meal. The meal was outstanding. I heard a lot of compliments on the meal. THANK YOU CHURCH. I give you an A plus. Hailey’s special, “Jesus In Me,” brought tears of conviction to our eyes. She sings like an angel. Several people wanted more info on Hailey but I didn’t give them much. I don’t want one of these proselyting preachers to try to steal her.
- We closed out the memorial fund for Tom Bennich last night. We raised enough money to buy more than 1,000 bibles. We will be taking his table down today. We get to take it easy today but tomorrow is another marathon. Actually, we have a lot of odds and ends to do today.
- STEW and Hayrides tomorrow night. We begin serving at 5:30.
